Wednesday, December 20, 2017

As we celebrate our Lord and Savior’s birth this month we must keep in mind that He ultimately came to be our Savior. Matthew writes, of Mary, “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21)

When the angel appeared to the shepherds he told them that a very special birth was going to occur in Bethlehem. If, in fact, any birth can be called “ordinary”, Jesus’ birth certainly was not that. Each birth is a miracle, but when Jesus was born He came for a very specific purpose. When the angel spoke to the shepherds he told them, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:1)

Jesus came not only to live a sinless life and point people toward faith in God, but He came to die to be the Savior, mankind’s only hope of reconciliation with God. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, (see Acts 4:8) testifies why Jesus came in response to religious leaders’ questions. They asked him by what power or in whose name did he heal the crippled man. He responded, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:8-12) This verse makes us recognize that Jesus did not come to be a Savior, He came to be our only Savior! Jesus alone can save people from their sins.

Christmas is inseparably linked to Calvary. Calvary would hold no meaning for us had not the only sinless one been born according to God’s will and plan, destined to die on the cross for everyone who will ever believe in Jesus. Christmas would be meaningless were Jesus an ordinary baby who lived an ordinary life and died without being the only one who could ever be the Savior.

As we celebrate Christmas, let us also celebrate what Jesus Christ accomplished on Calvary—not only for us, but for everyone will be ever believe in him.